Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
